Witnesses report erratic driving before truck toppled off I-10

BATON ROUGE - One person has died and at least another adult and child have been injured after a pickup drove off the I-10 overpass in a busy part of the Garden District Friday evening.

"We thought it was fireworks," a witness told WBRZ. But, she then saw it was a vehicle and called 911.

Witnesses said it appears the truck was traveling eastbound on the raised part of the interstate, crossed all lanes and toppled over the opening divide between both sides of I-10. The red truck landed in a parking lot between Ivar's and ZeeZee's Gardens.

On I-10, the truck was described as speeding well over the speed limit and weaving in and out of traffic. Just before toppling over the guardrail, the driver was seen passing on the shoulder. One witness said the truck ran out of safe space, flipped and dropped to the ground below.

At least one or two other vehicles were damaged on the bridge deck.

"The driver's side was crushed," a witness said.

Rescue crews spent as many as two hours working to pull survivors and the driver, a man, who died from the wreckage. Another adult and child were rushed to the hospital. ***********Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz